Apparatus for producing diastatic product.



I. TAKAMINE.

APPARATUS FOR PRODUCING DIASTATIC PRODUCT.

APPLICATION FILED .IAN.28. |913.

Patented Oct. 17, 1916.-

2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

@Shim/naw# I J. TAKAMINE.

APPARATUS FOR PRODUCING DIASTATIC PRODUCT.

APPLICATION FILED IAN.28. I9I3.

Patented 0er.. 17,1916.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

UN1T11D s'rAfrns rArENr orrrcr.

JoKIcHi TAKAMINE, or NEW YORK, N. Y.

APPARATUS FOR IERODUCING DIASTATIC PRODUCT.

To all 'whom t may concern.'

Be it known that I, JoKIoHI TAKAMINE,

a subject of the Emperor of Japan, and a resident of New York city, borough of Manhattan, in the county and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Apparatus for Producing Diastatic Product,

' of which the following is a specification.

My invention is an apparatus for carrying out a process of producing koji and mo ashi.

the production of koji and moyashi' as described in my Letters Patent of the United States numbered 525,820, 525,822

and 525,823, and in my application lNo. 541,617, filed February 2,'1910,now Patent No. 1,148,938, dated Aug. s, 1915, the Aspergllus Org/zoe spores are mixed with the culture medium such aswheat bran moistenedwith water. Heretofore, it'was supposed .thatquietudewas essential to ecient growth because it was supposed that the superiicially mixed spores would be displaced by movement of the culture medium.

' vention, it was the custom to' spread the culture medium loosely to 'a thickness of nnt exceeding three or four inches, Vthereby giving 'the air access to as large ya surface as practicable. .This not only required an enormous floor space, but made unavoidable theinfection of the mass by foreign fungi and bacteria settling down uponit from the a1r. and operating the apparatus in consequence of the trays on whichtheA culture medium was spread, were also items in which im-` provement was urgent. I .v

By the use of the aplparatus constituting my present invention, t e 'mass maybe several feet lin thickness-say three or four feetfor even more, while in the old 'process a thickness of three. or fourinches was the ,g maximum, and, even at that thickness the* Specification of Letters Patent.

vhorizontal axis.

The labor and expense of installingl Patented oet. 17,1916.

Application led January 28, 1913. i Serial No. 744,609,

growth of the lfungus was notas satisfactory as that carried on with a thickness of one to vtwo inches.

My present invention embodies an appara- -tus whereby the mass is agitated continually so that the particles of the mass will be brought to the surface in succession in order to have access to the air.l This agitation however, is not of@l such violence as to substantially.l impede -the fungus .growth though. it modiies'the character of the mycelial filaments thereof. lThe agitation is such as to cause the particles to go'through a 4cycle of movement not to exceed about once or twice per minute, by preference, and I although this speed of agitation may be increased considerably, I have found that when it reached ten cycles per minute, the growth was materially impeded.

The present invention consists in the apparatus, to be more fully described `hereinafter, and the novelty of which. will be particularly pointed out and distinctly claimed. Y

I have fully and clearly illustrated one embodiment of the apparatus constituting. my invention inthe accompan ing draw-` ings, to'be taken as part of this vspecification, and wherein- Figure 1 is a view in longitudinal'vertical section of the apparatus; Fig. 2 is a vertical transverse section on the line 2-2 of Fig. l, and` Fig. 3 is a detailedtransverse .sec-

- tional view of partk of the apparatus.

Referring tothe drawings by characters of reference, 1 designates a cylindrical drum consisting of a lhorizontally disposed4 cylindrical shell closed at its ends by heads 2, said drum being arranged/ to rotate on its Any suitable means may be employed forimparting 'rotation tothe v drum, but I prefer to provide the same with Acircumferential end bands 3 which rest upon supporting rolls 4, thelatter being mounted on parallel shafts4 5, 6, extending longitudi-l nally of the drum, the shaft 5 being provided with a worm gear 7 fixed thereto and meshing withv a worm pinion 8` on a' driving shaft 9, driven from any suitable source of l power."- The arrangement is such Athat the ffriction pulleys 4 on the 4shaft 5 rotate the drum throughfrictional engagementfof said .pulleys `with the bands 3. In order that the drum may not slip relative to the driving-'.

fpilleys, but will 'always have a continuous andjsteady rotation rat a constant speed for a given speed of the drive shaft, I provide the drum adjacent each of the ends thereof lwith a circumferential series of projections or recessed wheelsllfx'ed to the said driving shaft 5. I do not desire to be limited to the lproportions of this drum, but in the drawings have shown the same drawn in Fig. 1 at the scale of inch to 1 foot and in Figs. 2 and 3, at inch to 1 foot from the commercial machine. Each of the heads 2 of the drum is provided with a central opening through which projects an air conduit 12, each air conduit being mounted upon a suitable frame 13 to hold it stationary during rotation of the drum, it being understood that the drum rotates freely vabout said conduits. The inner ends of the conduits are directed radially from the drum center as at 14 inthe direction of rotation of the drum so that the open ends of said conduits are directed toward'the side of the Adrum which is descending during rotation.

' may be provided with suitableI chambers 16 which perforated pipe 17 steam or' other.

steriliz'ing agent may be admitted to the interior of the drum. The pipe 17 may be secured in place by its engagement with the conduits 12 through which it passes, and also be supported at the end opposite to the pipe 18 by a bracket member 17a -mounted in the outlet conduit 12. Also extending through.

the central portion of the drum at substantlally the center thereof and parallel to the pipe 17 1s .a pipe 20 connected to a feedpipe 2l, having a controlling valve 22, which pipe 20 may be employed fori admittingl water; antiseptic, a spore vbearing liquid, or other fluids into the` interior of the drum. The pipe 20'is preferably supportedinl place by pipe thimbles 0r clamps 20a surrounding the same and clamped to the pipe 17'. The pipe 20 is provided with a plurality offlat'erally projecting pipes 23, which are inclined to the vertical in the Samevgeneral direction as thatl of the rotation .of `the drum., and toward the descending side of the drum, each plpe. carrying at its free end a nozzle tip 24 having its outlet orifices directed to the ascending side of the drum during rotation of the latter. rIhese nozzles are preferably of such a construction as to discharge the liuid from the pipe 20 in an expanding cone orm of such diameter that the cones overlap each other, thereby preventing the existence of spaces between the nozzles which would not be subjected 'to the liquid owing therefrom. I preferably employ nozzle tipsof any of the well-known forms which will discharge the liquid in the form of a fine spray, and will impart a whirling motion thereto so that a solid body of spray will be thrown from each tip .toward the material in the drum, as will be presently described.

i The drum is provided on its inner surface with inwardly-projecting radial bailes or blades which, as thedrum rotates, serve to lift the granular substance or material in the drum' and impart thereto a tumbling motion. I prefer to employ in a drum of the proportions described siX of'these baffles orblades disposed at equal distances around the drum. The baffles are preferably supported a vdistance from the drum shell to provide a small space through which particles of the medium may 'fall so that vthey will not' become packed on the baiiies as would be the case did the baiies abut the shell throughout their lengths.

I will now proceed to Aset forth the opera tion of Y the above described apparatus in producing a diastase-yielding o product. When the apparatus is to be employed for the purpose stated, sufficient culture medium, which may be in the form of bran from cereals, is introduced into the drum to a depth of about three or four feet. The valve 22 may then be opened so as to permit water to flow to the nozzles 24 and be sprayed therefrom upon the culture medium, the-flow being permitted to continue until the medium is moistened to the desired degree. During this spraying the drum may be revolved slowly so that the culture medium willbe A tumbled therein to insure all parts thereof being evenly moistened. .The iow` of Water from the nozzles24 is then cut o' and steam is admitted to the cylinder through the perforated pipe 17 in order to steriliz'e the medium. When themedium is properly sterilized, it may be cooled by circulating air, by

means of the conduits 12, through the interior of the drum'. rIhe pipe 21 may then be connected to a liquid antiseptic or an an-. tlseptic carried by water and Vsprayed into the interior of the drum upon the culture medium by -means of the nozzles 24. Durlng -this operation the drummay be slowly revolved so as to insure proper mixture of the antiseptic with medium.- I then use the pipe 21 with the nozzles 24 to spray AspergillusA y,Ory/@ in the form of. spores and .known as moyashi, andpreferably suspended in water,

into the drum and into contact with the culture medium. The drum may then be permitted to rest for preliminary germination, or may be rotated slowly-say, at the rate of about once in ve minutes for this period.

After this preliminary rest or slow agitation.

the drum is then rotated for a period of from thirty to forty hours at the rate of one revo-4 tions of the spore-bearing mass are continu-P ously presented to the action of the air current, it being understood that it is highly desirable for best results that the mass be-.con-

tinuously presented to the air current. Byv

use of the independent nozzles which discharge the liquid in the form of a ne spray or mist, the liquid is thoroughly Land evenly disseminated throughout, the body of the culture medium and does not result in the .formation oflballs or lumps, which would be the case were the liquid in thei form of` streams. l,

What I claim and desire'to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. An apparatus for manufacturing diastatic productl comprisin'gva revoluble drum, means in the drum to tumble material there in, apipe extending lengthwise of the drum, a plurality of pipes extending upward and l l V conduits entering the 'respective ends of the drum and having their inner orifices directed laterally from said pipe, each of said pipes having an independent spray nozzle having its outlet directed toward the rising side o f the drum..

# 2. An apparatus for manufacturing diastatic product comprising a revoluble drum,v

means in the drum to tumble material therein, a pipe extending lengthwise of the drum;

a plurality of pipes extending upward and laterally from said pipe, each of 'said pipes having an independent spray nozzle having its outlet directed toward the rising side of the`drum, and means for causing air circulation through the drum.

3. An apparatus for manufacturing diastatic productJ comprising a revoluble drum, f

balies extending lengthwise of the drum, spraying means in the drum, and air conduits entering the ends ofthe drum, said conduits each having a lateral open ended part arranged with the lopen end directed toward the descending side ofthe drum.

4. An apparatus for manufacturing dia,- static product comprising a revoluble drum, bailles extending lengthwise of the drum, spraying means in the drum, and airI conduits entering the, ends of the drum, said condults each having a lateral open ended ward'the descending side of the drum, and means for causing 'a flow of air through said conduits. v

5. An apparatus for manufacturing diastatic product comprising a revoluble drum, bailies secured to the wall of the drum, a

pipe extending lengthwise of the drum, nozl part arranged with the open. end directed tov zles carried by said pipe and directed toward the rising side of the drum, and inlet and outlet air conduits connected to the ends of the drums respectively and having their orifices directed away from the the drum. 1

static product comprising a revoluble drum,

baffles extending lengthwise of the drum, a.

pipe extending lengthwise of the center of,

the drum and carrying nozzles directed to.'v4

ward the rising side of the drum, a perforated pipe extending centrally and longitudinally of the druin, and inlet and outlet air toward the descending sideof the drum.

so rising slde of In testimony whereof I have hereunto signedfmy name in the presence of two subf scribing witnesses. 4

, J OKICHI TAKAMINE.

Witnesses: A v

MARY L.BRITT, ANNA MALLoY. 

